Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Choosing a Way to Protect Ideas
• Method 2 of 3: Precautions
• Method 3 of 3: How to exercise your rights
• Tips

In almost all countries, an inventor has the right to register a patent for a scientific or technical invention. The patent does not allow other people to use or sell this invention for a limited amount of time. But what if you have an idea but don't think you should get a patent? Fortunately, there are other ways to protect your ideas and inventions, including trade secrets.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Choosing a Way to Protect Ideas

1. 1 Determine what your idea is. Not every idea can be protected by law, so you need to know exactly what you will be protecting before you do it. For example, let's say you want to open a donut shop. Such an idea will not be subject to protection by law, although, of course, you can not tell about your intention to competitors. But what if your idea is a special formula for producing a new type of donut frosting? This is the idea you can defend with the law.
2. 2 Decide to what extent you need protection. Are you going to keep it a secret from the whole world? Or, as in the case of donuts, do you hope your competitors won't find out about the idea? Would you prefer your idea to remain a secret always or only for a certain period of time? All this must be taken into account.
3. 3 Patent your invention. Any person who discovers or develops a new process, mechanism, production method or composition, or significantly improves existing ones, can obtain a patent. Ideas by themselves are not patentable. One of the prerequisites for obtaining a patent is to provide a detailed description and diagrams of the process, mechanism and other things.
   • If your invention is patentable, you need to file an application.
     • A patent officer will review your application and decide if your invention is unique.
     • If the employee decides that you can obtain a patent, you will have the exclusive right to manufacture, use and sell the invention for 20 years from the date of application.
     • You can take other people to court if you become aware that they are using your invention without your permission.
4. 4 Please provide a preliminary description of the invention. This is a much less detailed description of the invention, and the cost of filing such a document is low. A preliminary description is valid for 12 months or until a full description is submitted. The advance description allows you to keep the filing date of your application while you think if you need a patent.
   • If you decide to obtain a patent, the date of the filing of the preliminary description will be considered the date of invention, even if it was a year ago.
   • You cannot update this document after 12 months. If you choose not to obtain a patent, after a year your description will no longer carry any weight.
5. 5 Decide if your idea can be protected as a trade secret. Even if you decide that you cannot count on a patent (or choose not to obtain one for other reasons), your idea can still be protected as a trade secret.
   • Trade secrets have a much broader field of application. Trade secrets can protect formulas, samples, collections, programs, devices, methods, techniques and processes.
   • The most famous example of a trade secret is the Coca-Cola formula. For the past 90 years, the company has kept the lineup under wraps. The company never patented the composition, as this would mean that over time it would become available to a wide range of people.Coca-Cola maintains a competitive edge by keeping the ingredients secret.
6. 6 Assess the advantages and disadvantages of patents. There are advantages and disadvantages to all methods of protecting intellectual property rights, so analyze all the information before making a decision. The pros and cons of patents include the following factors:
   • A patent allows you to prevent others from making, using and selling your invention for 20 years.
   • Anyone wishing to use your invention before the expiration of this period is required to obtain your permission, and often this means signing a licensing agreement that will pay you money. The licensing option may attract other companies that want to merge or take over with you.
   • As a rule, the process of obtaining a patent takes several years.
   • Many patent applications are rejected.
   • The cost of obtaining a patent is high and you will most likely need to hire a lawyer to prepare a competent description of your invention.
   • Most often, applications are published 18 months after submission.
   • After 20 years, the patent expires, which means that after this period, anyone can produce, use and sell your invention.
7. 7 Assess the advantages and disadvantages of protecting trade secrets. After analyzing the pros and cons of a patent, think about the pros and cons of trade secrets:
   • There is no need to apply and pay for it.
   • A trade secret takes effect instantly and never ends (unless the information becomes available to the general public).
   • You can sue the person who divulged the secret.
   • You do not have exclusive rights to this information. Another person can independently develop the same invention, and you will not have the right to sue him.
   • If, over time, you decide to apply for a patent, you must do so within one year of the date the invention was developed. Thus, keeping information secret until a patent is obtained can only take a year.

Method 2 of 3: Precautions

1. 1 Only share your idea with a limited number of people. If you decide to take the trade secret route, consider how many people already know about it and how much more will need to know. The more people there are, the higher the likelihood that the information will become known to others. Make sure the people you've already shared with your idea understand how important it is to keep it a secret.
2. 2 Prohibit public use of your idea. If you allow other people to modify or use your idea before obtaining a patent, you may lose your patentability. In addition, you are unlikely to be able to protect such an idea as a trade secret.
3. 3 Provide information on the preservation of trade secrets in the employment agreements. If your company has a trade secret, invite new employees to sign a nondisclosure law. A lawyer will help you draw up such a document competently.
4. 4 Sign nondisclosure agreements with your business partners. If you are forced to disclose information during negotiations with partners, ask everyone to sign a nondisclosure document before starting negotiations. These documents are widely used in the business world. Some companies may ask to slightly change the terms in the contract and only a few will refuse to sign such documents. Non-disclosure agreements also lose their force over time, so be prepared for that. A lawyer will help you draft such a document and discuss the terms of the contract with partners.
   • If the partner refuses to sign the contract, you must protect the information in another way (for example, draw up a preliminary description of the invention) before disclosing the secret.Unfortunately, if you do this without preserving your rights, your partner will be able to use your invention or even apply for a patent.
5. 5 Protect your information by all means. This applies to both printed and electronic documents. Keep printed documents under lock and key and have a limited number of copies. Restrict access to electronic documents and protect this information with a password.

Method 3 of 3: How to exercise your rights

1. 1 Analyze possible ways of information leakage. If you find out that a competitor is trying to use information protected by trade secrets, you should collect as much information as possible about such attempts. Going back to the donut example, if you find out that a competing company has started a new frosting, you can buy a donut from them and find out what its composition is.
2. 2 Make sure your idea is protected by trade secrets by law. If you become aware that a competitor is producing the same icing as yours, and you want to take action, the first step is to prove that your idea is protected by a trade secret. The court will consider the following factors:
   • The extent to which information has become known outside of your firm.
   • The extent to which information is known to your company's employees and partners.
   • What steps have you taken to ensure non-disclosure of information.
   • The value of information to you and your competitors.
   • The amount of effort or money you spent developing an idea.
   • The ease or difficulty of getting or copying information by others.
3. 3 Prove that the information was protected by a trade secret. After determining that the information was considered a trade secret, you will need to prove to the court that you have taken all necessary measures to protect this information and that the information has been leaked.
   • Information leakage is considered to be the receipt and disclosure of information in an unacceptable way or violation by the employee of the terms of the confidentiality agreement. In the case of donuts, you can prove your idea is being misused by proving that a competitor broke into your store at night and stole the formula.
   • A competitor cannot be held liable in the following cases:
     • The information was divulged by accident (the icing recipe fell out of your pocket and a competitor picked it up).
     • The information was obtained as a result of analysis (a competitor bought a donut and analyzed the composition).
     • A competitor made a discovery independently of you (a competitor accidentally developed the same formula as you).
4. 4 Claim your rights. Typically, you should first talk to a competitor and see if you can resolve the issue without going to court. If you decide to take legal action, remember the following:
   • There are special procedures and they may vary from country to country.
   • You may also have to sue employees who violated the terms of the contract (if the latter passed the recipe to a competitor), as well as against the competitor for unfair competition (if the competitor announced in an advertisement that he was the only one selling donuts with such icing).
5. 5 Weigh the risks and benefits of a litigation. You may be able to obtain a restraining order (a competitor will not be able to use your trade secret), a prohibition order (a competitor will not be able to divulge your trade secret to third parties), damages, litigation costs, and legal fees.
   • If your case is not proven, you will have to reimburse the costs of the services of your competitor's lawyers, as well as pay for the services of your own lawyers.
   • The services of a lawyer in the conduct of a case in court can take years and can cost a lot of money.

Tips

• Check with a lawyer before filing a lawsuit. Legislation on the protection of intellectual property rights is very confusing and changes frequently.A lawyer will help you assess your strengths and weaknesses and make a decision.
• Remember, you cannot patent a fuzzy idea. Only inventions are subject to patenting. If you have an idea, but you have not yet developed it to a state that could be described in detail in a patent application, it is better to give up the thought of a patent.
• It is impossible to protect information by both a patent and a trade secret (in the case of a patent, all information becomes known to the general public), so try to file an application with a preliminary description (it does not require a lot of details). Make the details a trade secret while you think if you need a patent.
• Design decisions or intellectual property that are used in conjunction with a particular brand may be registered as a trademark rather than patented. Registering a trademark is cheaper than a patent, but you will also need the services of a lawyer who knows the industry when registering a trademark. If someone uses your work without your permission, you can sue them.
• Ideas in music, books, paintings and computer software are protected by copyright, not patents. Copyright lasts longer than patents. If you find out that someone is using your work without permission, you can take legal action.
• Ideas can be divided into technical and ideas of science, literature, art. Only technical ideas can be patented if they are sufficiently developed.
• When considering the use of the know-how regime, it should be borne in mind that ensuring all the conditions of the secrecy regime is a very expensive process. In addition, very few people manage to withstand it for a long time. Proof of guilt is also difficult.
• A non-disclosure agreement for confidential information is not very effective, because in the case of an idea, it is easy to get around.
• It is advisable to protect design, architectural solutions as projects by copyright norms - http://www.a-priority.ru/park/art3_deponir.html.
• In many cases, it is advisable to apply the technique of hidden know-how. For example, this can be used in a patent when you do not fully disclose one of the signs or do not indicate its particular solutions (http://www.a-priority.ru/patent/PatentPrimer.html?sphrase_id=552).